deposit of faith found in both Sacred

Scripture and Sacred Tradition was

preserved, taught, and handed on by the

apostles. Under the guidance of the Holy

Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Magisterium

(the teaching authority entrusted to the

apostles and their successors) has the duty to

preserve, teach, defend, and hand on the

deposit of faith. Moreover, the Holy Spirit

protects the Church from error in its

teaching authority. While over the course of

time, the Magisterium has had to address

current issues, such as nuclear war,

euthanasia, in vitro fertilization, the same

truth principles exercised under the guidance

of the Holy Spirit prevail.

These four marks of the Church one, holy,

catholic, and apostolic — are fully realized

in the Catholic Church. While other

Christian Churches accept and profess the

Creed, and possess elements of truth and

sanctification, only the Roman Catholic

Church reflects the fullness of these marks.

The Second Vatican Council taught, "This

Church [which Christ founded], constituted

and organized as a society in the present

world, subsists in the Catholic Church,

which is governed by the successor of Peter

and by the bishops in communion with him"

(Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #8),

and "For it is through Christ's Catholic

Church alone, which is the universal help

towards salvation, that the fullness of the

means of salvation can be obtained" (Decree

on Ecumenism, #3). Our duty then is to

make these four marks visible in our daily

lives.

This article is reprinted with permission

from Arlington Catholic Herald.

Printed with ecclesiastical approval.

The Evangelization Station

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Telephone: 209-728-5598

E-mail: evangelization@earthlink.net

www.evangelizationstation.com

Pamphlet 126

The Four Marks of the

Church

Fr. William Saunders, PhD

In the Nicene Creed, we profess, "We

believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic

Church": these are the four marks of the

Church. They are inseparable and

intrinsically linked to each other. Our Lord

Himself in founding the Church marked it

with these characteristics, which reflect its

essential features and mission. Through the

continued guidance of the Holy Spirit, the

Church fulfills these marks.

First, the Church is one. The Catechism

notes that the Church is one for three

reasons: first, because of its source, which is

the Holy Trinity, a perfect unity of three

divine persons — Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit; second, because of its founder, Jesus

Christ, who came to reconcile all mankind

through the blood of the cross; and third,

because of its "soul," the Holy Spirit, who

dwells in the souls of the faithful, who

unites all of the faithful into one communion

of believers, and who guides the Church

(#813).

The "oneness" of the Church is also visible.

As Catholics, we are united in our Creed and

our other teachings, the celebration of the

sacraments, and the hierarchical structure

based on the apostolic succession preserved

and handed on through the Sacrament of

Holy Orders. For example, whether one

attends Mass in Alexandria, San Francisco,

Moscow, Mexico City, or wherever, the

Mass is the same — the same readings,

structure, prayers, and the like except for a

difference in language — celebrated by the

faithful who share the same Catholic beliefs,

and offered by a priest who is united to his

bishop who is united to the Holy Father, the

pope, the successor of St. Peter.

In our oneness, we do find diversity: The

faithful bear witness to many different

vocations and many different gifts, but work

together to continue the mission of our Lord.

The various cultures and traditions enrich

our Church in their expressions of one faith.

In all, charity must permeate the Church, for

it is through charity that the members are

bound together and work together in

harmonious unity.

The Church is also holy. Our Lord Himself

is the source of all holiness: "The one Christ

is mediator and the way of salvation; he is

present to us in His body which is the

Church" (Dogmatic Constitution on the

Church, #14). Christ sanctifies the Church,

and in turn, through Him and with Him, the

Church is His agent of sanctification.

Through the ministry of the Church and the

power of the Holy Spirit, our Lord pours

forth abundant graces, especially through the

sacraments. Therefore, through its teaching,

prayer and worship, and good works, the

Church is a visible sign of holiness.

Nevertheless, we must not forget that each

of us as a member of the Church has been

called to holiness. Through baptism, we

have been freed from original sin, filled with

sanctifying grace, plunged into the mystery

of our Lord's passion, death, and

resurrection, and incorporated into the

Church, "the holy people of God." By God's

grace, we strive for holiness. The Second

Vatican Council exhorted, "Every Catholic

must therefore aim at Christian perfection

and, each according to his station, play his

part, that the Church, which bears in her

own body the humility and dying of Jesus,

may daily be more purified and renewed,

against the day when Christ will present her

to Himself in all her glory without spot or

wrinkle" (Decree on Ecumenism, #4).

Our Church has been marked by outstanding

examples of holiness in the lives of the

saints of every age. No matter how dark the

times may have been for our Church, there

have always been those great saints through

whom the light of Christ radiated. Yes, we

are frail human beings, and at times we sin;

yet, we repent of that sin and continue once

again on the path of holiness. In a sense, our

Church is a Church of sinners, not of the

self-righteous or self-assured saved. One of

the beautiful prayers of the Mass occurs

before the Sign of Peace: "Lord, look not on

our sins, but on the faith of your Church."

Even though poor frail individual members

of the Church fail and sin, the Church

continues to be the sign and instrument of

holiness.

The Church is also catholic. St. Ignatius of

Antioch (c. 100) used this word meaning

"universal" to describe the Church (Letter to

the Smyrnaens). The Church is indeed

Catholic in that Christ is universally present

in the Church and that He has commissioned

the Church to evangelize the world — "Go

therefore an make disciples of all the

nations" (Matthew 28:19).

Moreover, we must not forget that the

Church here on earth — what we call the

Church militant — is united to the Church

triumphant in Heaven and the Church

suffering in Purgatory. Here is the

understanding of the communion of saints

— the union of the faithful in Heaven, in

Purgatory, and on earth.

Finally, the Church is apostolic. Christ

founded the Church and entrusted His

authority to His apostles, the first bishops.

He entrusted a special authority to St. Peter,

the first Pope and Bishop of Rome, to act as

His vicar here on earth. This authority has

been handed down through the Sacrament of

Holy Orders in what we call apostolic

succession from bishop to bishop, and then

by extension to priests and deacons. If

possible, Bishop Loverde could trace his

apostolic succession as a bishop back to one

of the apostles. When Bishop Loverde

ordained seven men as priests for our

diocese on May 15, he did so with the

authority of apostolic succession, and those

men in turn share in the priesthood of our

Lord Jesus Christ. No bishop, priest, or

deacon in our Church is self-ordained or

self-proclaimed; rather, he is called by the

Church and ordained into the apostolic

ministry given by our Lord to His Church to

be exercised in union with the Pope.

The Church is also apostolic in that the